Keith Robinson

Featured in MoneyWeek Magazine. Keith Robinson's paintings lie between Georgia O'Keeffe's romanticised depiction of New York skyscrapers and the De Stijl school of abstract painters. His thin and fluid palette creates a dense and shimmering mirage on canvas, playfully contradicting the very structures he represents. Runner-up in The Scottish Portrait Awards 2021; exhibited at the BP Portrait Award (National Portrait Gallery) and the ING Discerning Eye. His History Revision portraits – painted on used painter's rags – re-evaluate imagery of children scarred by war, removing them from ideological association.

Artist statement

I paint Tower / Office Block's for their ubiquity and banality. They are everywhere. They are at best ignored, at worst seen as eyesores. They are seldom loved. It is the visual relationship we have with them that interests me. Do I want others to notice them? Not really, I have no feelings towards them. It is their gridded structure, formed from utility, that I like as it imposes a recognisable structure to the paintings, then I can play with colour and paint application as the paintings develop. Sometimes I will refer to the time of day when I viewed the Block, sometimes I will use other artists work as colour reference, and sometimes I will create evolving colour relationships and applications within the grid.

The History Revision portraits are an attempt to re-evaluate and revise imagery of children who have been scarred by war and ideology. These paintings are done on used painter's rags, the materials, like the images, are revised. I wanted to remove the child from ideological association to hopefully see the child in a neutral context.